Williams said his agents have had preliminary discussions with the Panthers about a contract extension. The 2015 fourth-round pick from Oklahoma is set to make $1.9 million in the final year of his rookie deal.

Williams had a solid season in 2017 in place of Mike Remmers, who signed with the Minnesota Vikings and continued being Mike Remmers. That made Williams a significant upgrade at the position. Some folks even think he was one of the top offensive tackles in the league last year.

There’s no doubt Williams did well as a run blocker and pass protector, but it’s worth asking if he’s really worth a big contract extension. After all, this was Williams’ first good campaign.

What general manager Marty Hurney has to weigh is how much he’s worth to the Panthers versus what he might get on the open market.

A team that’s desperate for more offensive line help (Seattle is always a candidate) might be tempted to throw a lot of money at Williams and his agents know this.

However, if they let him walk the Panthers may find themselves being one of those tackle-needy teams. Aside from Taylor Moton, who is projected to be the team’s swing-tackle in his second season, there’s really not much to like on the depth chart aside from Williams.

Carolina’s offensive line has already suffered some serious losses the last couple years given Michael Oher’s retirement and Andrew Norwell leaving in free agency. Losing another starter next year (on top of Ryan Kalil planning to retire) without finding an adequate replacement first risks allowing the unit to become a disaster.

Cam Newton has enough problems to worry about. He doesn’t need pass rushers in his face constantly coming from the right flank as well as the left.

The good news is Carolina should get a lot of money freed up over the next couple years as several veterans are set to retire. It might be a smart move to wait and see how Williams performs next season before signing him to a major long-term deal.

In any case, there probably won’t be a signing until training camp at least.